The Monday evening event in Edinburgh was billed as a “Wine Tasting and Glass Demonstration”!

Come on!!

Even I, a RIEDEL devotee for 15 years was stumped. I was momentarily lost for words – a rare phenomenon.

I managed to compose myself before the conversation moved on to ask “Why? …. “Do you mind my asking why you would describe it as life changing?”

“Because anything that changes our perception, the way we view things is a hugely significant event – it is life-changing”.

Wow.

I had very much enjoyed the evening. I’d found it fascinating, fun, instructive and inspiring. But up to this point in time, even fifteen years on from my discovery the ‘RIEDEL’ truth (the shape of a glass affects the smell, taste and enjoyment of wine), it had never occurred to me to describe the discovery as “life-changing”.

Do I agree? Yes, I do actually. I do.

There is so much truth in the simple statement: “What we are familiar with we cease to see”. However sceptical or cynical one is or has become and for whatever reason, there is little doubt but that a RIEDEL “Wine Tasting and Glass Demonstration” experience, particularly with Georg Riedel or his son Maximilian, shakes up the familiar wine drinking ritual in an exceptional way. “……as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it”.

Footnote: Three days later, Georg Riedel went to London to do a similar event at Lords Cricket Ground. Incredibly (and reassuringly!), this reviewer too described the event as “nothing short of life-changing”.

“Riedel does it his way”; Drinks International; 28th September 2012:

View article here

Nikki Fletcher of Convivium Wine has developed an extremely innovative, original and refreshing concept around the exploration and enjoyment of wine.

Before I reveal a little of the evening, it will help you to know something about the WineTube and the WineTubeMap.

The WineTubeMap is very clever indeed. It has the look and feel of a map of the London Tube but it is ever so much fun!

There are seven lines in total:
Aromatic; White Central; Red Central: Easy Loop; Fizz; Rediscovery and Revaluation.

Each line comprises a number of stations. For example, on the Aromatic line, you’ll find Pinot Grigio as one of the seven stops. On the Red Central line, you’ll find stops such as Bordeaux and Rioja.

Just like the London Tube, there are interchanges (“Chance here for …”) . You might ‘arrive’ at the Sauvignon Blanc interchange on the Aromatic line but switch to White Central by moving on from SB to experimenting with a wine close in taste to SB but perhaps not something you’ve tried or even heard of before……anyone for Rueda?

Convivium are running series of series of eight events to explore the WineTubeMap in depth. The first of those exploratory journeys was last evening and I was lucky enough to be on the maiden voyage: “A whistle-stop tour of the WineTubeMap, wine tasting and food matching covering red, white and rose. With bites to match.” The venue was The Bon Vivant, Edinburgh.

Deeee Lish….

We ‘did’ the interchanges. What a ride….two styles of wine awaited at each interchange which required (!) to be tasted and compared. There was additional fun to be had at each intersection - eating the amazing ‘bites’ that The Bon Vivant’s talented young chef had prepared to complement the wines.

Read on. I defy you not to salivate!

• Sauvignon Blancs and goat’s cheese on oatcakes (Note to self: from now on, don’t spread goat’s cheese on oakcakes, use a little mini scoop (like the WMF one I use for cookie dough) instead. Ever so elegant).
• Chardonnays (loved, loved, loved the Bogle from California) and beignets of fois gras(interesting!)
• New World Pinots with savory sables aka cookies - easily the crumbliest I’ve ever tasted. How does he do that?
• Shiraz/Syrah accompanied by duck breast that had been smoked, on the premises, earlier that day.
• Pink Fizz (twice) with mini panacotta(made with pink peppercorns!). Hooray for pink!
• Mucats with the most moorish honeycomb I’ve ever tasted. Please sir, can I have some more?

What a journey! Well, someone has got to do it!

The concept of the WineTubeMap is very cool. And I really get it. The ethos is all about making wine more approachable, less intimidating and even more fun. This approach very much resonates with one of my missions at Gulpfood.com, namely, to make cooking less scary (I’m still working on it!) . In time, I hope to post a series of realistic recipes to get you out of a recipe rut (if you’re in one).

Similarly, Convivium reckons that lots of us are in a wine-buying rut, playing safe and sticking with the tried and tested. I totally get that too. Sound familiar?

Seems to me that the creator of WineTubeMap and I have a similar take on the important things in life – eating and drinking!

I think do believe that clever deduction makes it imperative that I attend the next seven WineTubeMap adventures……

WineTubeMap and details of the next seven events: http://conviviumwine.com/

The Bon Vivant: Shop, Pub (champagne available by the glass!) and Deli: http://bonvivantedinburgh.co.uk/

Neither had I…..until very recently. And, wait for it, neither has Wikipedia (Did you mean: Dating in the Dark? Err, no!)

 Last week I went to The Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa in Edinburgh for “an exclusive Sensory Dining experience“. Hint: There was a reference in the invite to “the non-visual senses” and photographs of people wearing blindfolds ….

I could probably write a mini short story about how fab the evening turned out to be. However, the accepted wisdom is, apparently, that blogs should be short. Oh dear! Who knew?

A wonderful and witty host  took us through ‘the routine’ for the evening covering essentials such as

• the knife in our place-settings would stay on the table and our water glass would always be in line with the tip of the  knife; the alcoholic drinks would be to the right of the water
• we’d eat with a spoon and fork
• the food would be served in bowls
• the place name cards  (which initially smacked of a poor joke!) were there so that the waiters could speak to us individually to guide us through the evening ( I doubt if a sensory experience will always include a  Spanish waiter  whispering  your ear throughout !). 
•  there would be five courses and a ‘comfort break’ after the third course.

 Blindfolds on!

As I have come to expect from The Sheraton Grand in Edinburgh, each course was simply sublime. As were the pairings of wine other alcoholic accompaniments (the most unusal was infused vodka, Manuka 42 Below).

We indulged in Ostrich (a bit tricky to descipher when blindfolded!); a Warm Salad of Sweetbreads and Langoustine; Apple Sorbet; Slow-roasted Lamb with Miso and Blue Cheese and Valrhona Chocolate Brownie.

Each mouthful was indeed a sensory experience. And there is absolutely no doubt in my mind , having ‘done it’, that much of our eating is done with our eyes. In sharp contrast, the sensory method is all about taste and texture.

Leaving aside the all-important food and wine, what fun and how revealing it is to eat, drink and converse while blind-folded. Some observations you might enjoy:

•  no point in nodding in agreement with a  fellow diner’s opinion  - they can’t see you!
•  no point in using your hands to express yourself either!
• everyone talks louder - instant atmosphere!
• no point in worrying about your lippie!

If you are going to try this at home, forget any white linen tablecloths or napkins.

For starters (pardon the terrible pun!), I’m going to try this on my kids. Like any ‘normal’ kids, they are prone to ‘I don’t like that’ before a morsel has even passed their lips. I’ll keep you posted!

In the meantime, if you can come up with a reason (or even an excuse) to try the Sheraton’s Sensory Dining Experience, I can’t recommend it highly enough.  At £70 per head, it is wonderful value for money. Here’s the link:

http://www.sheratonedinburgh.co.uk/sensory-dining

On my recent visit to a trade fair in Frankfurt, I picked up a promotional magazine of the International Housewares Association.
It contains a piece entitled “Colour Trends Blend the Practical and the Playful”.

I am immediately interested.

But a couple of minutes later I found myself talking aloud to the article. What? A What? ”An international color (US) guru” who “heads the Eiserman Center for Color Information and Training and is executive director of the Pantone Color Institute”.

I mean. I do love colour. And I can talk at length about many things. But, I find it completely fascinating that someone not only has a job as a colour expert but is head of an Institute with colour as its sole purpose but is also “an international color guru”.

Well, I just had to read on….what is The Worldwide Expert saying?

Ms Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman considers that there is evidence of “new directions on the colour road map” including, “ a movement that has consumers forging into adventures and novel color –US spelling-combinations” . Apparently, simultaneously, Ms Eiseman says that some consumers want to “stop for a moment, take a deep breath, relax and consider more classic hues in a different kind of mix”.

Now, I would really like to know what you make of all this.

In terms of what The Expert has to say, I confess to being am more confused than I was before I stumbled upon the article. All I know from where I’m at is that there is evidence of ‘jo public’ having lots more interest in colour than previously. And I happen to think that’s great. What do you think?

Perhaps my opinion on Ms Eiseman’s ‘theory’ has been coloured (pardon the terrible pun) by the fact that in the photos which appear on both of her websites she is sporting a black polo neck:

Color Expert | More Alive with Colour

“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.”

Madame Jacques Bollinger

“Champagne! In victory one deserves it; in defeat one needs it”.

Napoleon Bonaparte

“Champagne is the only wine that enhances a woman’s beauty.”

Madame Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV (Too late to ask King Louis XV whether he agrees….)

“Burgundy makes you think of silly things; Bordeaux makes you talk about them and Champagne makes you do them.”

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin  (my hero of the philosophical side of food, drink and hospitality)

“…in the little moment that remains to us between the crisis and the catastrophe, we may as well drink a glass of Champagne.”

Paul Claudel, French Playwright 

A  favourite quote fromL Frank Baum, author of the brilliant Wizard of Oz provides  additional justification : “Never give up. No one knows what’s going to happen next”.

“Come quickly! I’m tasting stars!” 

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.”

Mark Twain

“The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love is like being enlivened with Champagne.”

Samuel Johnson

“There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only thing that helps is a glass of Champagne.”

Bette Davis

Recently, in the midst of seasonal stress and silliness, I hatched a plan to escape to a civilised place for the purposes of some blogging.

In tough times, it does seem rather an extravagance to decide that Champagne should be my Perfect Companion. However, this I am prepared to justify (even when it does involve a serious level of piggy bank raiding).

Given the season of goodwill and all that (which, in my book,  includes goodwill to oneself!); I decided to push the boat out and head for The Balmoral Hotel in my local Edinburgh.

What can I say?

I sat down, parked my butt, and quickly unpacked my laptop to avoid any early categorisation as a female with alternative motives.

What do you think got handed to me when I confirmed that, yes indeed, I would like to see The Drinks Menu?

A leather bound drinks menu the first page of which carried the Bollinger Crest and the second of which welcomed me to The Bollinger Bar at The Balmoral.

I quickly worked out that at £14 a glass, I could only afford two …

At the foot of every page of The Leather Bound Drinks Menu was a quotation about Champagne. Each one reassured me that I Had Absolutely Done The Right Thing.

Footnote:

My next blog, “Champagne : My  Favourite Quotations” shares the quotes from THAT Bollinger Bar Drinks Menu. 

Just to clarify, I’m not talking inner peace or the perfect BMI here.

I’m talking ‘things’ as in material objects.

In the ‘Must-find’ blog   I shared my experience of all those people I’ve come in contact with recently who are searching for something specific.

I don’t believe for one minute  that people go around obsessing over, say, a cooking or drinking essential that they cannot find.

However, put the same people in the context of a space filled with related, ‘off-beat’ stuff and it awakens the possibility that they might be able to find that ‘longed-for-thing’ which, miraculously, just sprung back into their minds…

“Have you ever seen?” /”I’ve looked everywhere for…”

I get am so reassured and derive such a thrill every single time I get asked this question by a visitor to my shop. 

While I’ve always thought of myself as beging strangely ’particular’  (so much kinder that ‘fussy’ or ‘awkward’ don’t you agree?) when it comes to cooking, eating, drinking, and entertaning ’stuff’.

Hey, not so. There are lots of ‘particular’ people like me out there.

And, boy, am I enjoying the company…..

“Must finds”

I have surprised myself on my choice of  ‘Must finds’ as a name bearing in mind how much I am irked by the over-used “Must haves”.  Is it just me?

‘Must find’ is not a prediction about the next big thing. It is a personal list of things that I ‘Must find’.

The ‘must’ bit is self-imposed.

Let me explain.

In my ‘new’ shopkeeper role (which I am loving), I chat a lot. And people chat to me. And, over the last ten weeks, they have taken me into their confidence and told me about things…… things that they have been searching for but cannot find.

Because I reckon I am a born  ’pleaser’ , I can’t help myself from offering to help.  

It also probably has something to do with the fact that I love a challenge, particularly when that challenge involves a licence to spend buckets of time immersing myself in a seach for ’stuff’ I love.

How wonderful for me is it that the ’stuff’ just happens to be everything Gulp! might offer. I’m in heaven. Or, as they’d say in Ireland where I am blogging from……”I’m like a pig in shit”!!

To be continued…

I’m very much ‘on the record’ as being a BIG fan of a BIG fuss on the  Birthdays of the three occupants of the Gulp! household.

My Birthday, it is a different matter. The truth is that I am much happier planning and executing A Fuss than being the focus of A Fuss.

Being the kidult that I am, my favourite bit of my birthday is a song. 

I can log on to YouTube and get my fix  but, better than that, Misses 8 and 7, do a fantastic live version with a few substituions to the lyrics. It makes me smile soooo broadly that at this point in time, on this Birthday, there is nothing I will enjoy more.

‘Mom it’s your Birthday’ is a little number from one of my favouite TV shows (and I don’t watch very many), Phineas and Ferb.  Here are the lyrics (per Misses 8 and 7) . The  link follows at the end.

I defy you not to smile….

Mom its your birthday
Thank for  all the care and love you give
Not to mention the the meals
Sometimes I get kinda nervous
And forget to tell you how I feel       (shoo-bee doo  shoo-bee doo)
I’m a little highly strung
It’s just because I”m young
Mom I adore ya
and I’d  do anything for ya

Although my sister makes me frantic
With every single crazy antic
And whenI’m bouncin off the walls
Your the one who stays CALM
The one who stays calm         (???)
Because you love me for who I am …..

I’ll always love you MMOOOOMMM!!!

Mom its your Birthday

Yesterday  technology rose to the dizzy heights of  (my) Life’s Small Pleasures…

The significance of this in the life of someone who until fairly recently has been intimidated by technology is not to be underestimated.

Here’s out it went:

Mir (that’s me) opened her email  inbox around 8.30pm, Friday night - Message entitled: Gulpfood-Product Enquiry for Product Name Gangster Grater- Mir’s heart jumps since the occassion of an email from the virtual Gulp ‘office’ is one to be celebrated-Even more exciting is the fact that the sender, Paolo, has to be Spanish or Italian.

Mir reads on…Paolo is from the ZO_loft studio in Rome and he has spotted that Gulp Shopping does not credit his studio as the designer of the Gangster Grater. Nor does it mention a description and some additional product details he would like to see included.  His closing line  “ I hope you could understand and please my request”.

Call me sad if you will (I really don’t mind!)  but what ensued as a result of this email delighted me so much that I have now added the marvel of modern technology to my list of Life’s Small Pleasures.

Goes like this. Back to the inbox.

I(Mir) immediately logged in to the ‘back office’ bit of gulpfood.com- Went  into the product listing and called up The Gangster Grater-Made the changes that Paolo requested-Logged back into Gulp Shopping to check that the changes were made successfully (they were) -Back to email-Drafted  an email to Paolo- Logged onto an online translating site-Converted the message to Italian-Pressed send-Ping-All in the space of 30 minutes. 

I was thrilled to bits! (Sad, but true!).

Q: Who is that techno savvy mum called Mir? A: The one typing this blog with a smile on her face.

PS Saturday, 3.45pm. I just got an email from Paolo: thank you very much for your kind reply. I really appreciate it. Also thank you very much for pleasing my request…I wish you have a nice weekend!Bests,Paolo Emilio